Delivery driver stole £28k of cereal and lied about food bank donation

Clifford Wyatt has appeared in court after admitting taking 792 containers, each containing 22 boxes, of Aldi Wheat Bisk.

But he was caught out by his employer, which was able to recover most of the product as it had been stored in a storage lock-up.

The 43-year-old appeared before Liverpool Crown Court to be sentenced on charges of theft by an employee and taking a vehicle without consent.

It was heard that the theft occurred in Warrington on October 8 last year, with the defendant taking a Mercedes lorry cab in the town and driving to MAXI Haulage depot in Appleton Thorn.

Here, he loaded up the cereal – with a total stock value of approximately £10,000, and a retail value of £28,163.52 – and drove off.

The Wheat Bisks were left at a unit at Meadow Self Storage in Failsworth, Greater Manchester, with Wyatt then returning the lorry to Warrington.

Unsurprisingly, the missing products were noticed and enquiries began, with Wyatt spoken to following checks of CCTV.

He admitted taking the tractor and said he took the cereal to a food bank in Oldham, claiming that a manager had permitted him to do this as it was ‘damaged stock’.

However, this was disputed by the manager, and the foodbank in question confirmed that it did not receive any delivery of this kind.

The vast majority of the Wheat Bisks were recovered from the lock-up.

Before sentencing, judge David Potter commented that the offence had crossed the threshold for a custodial sentence, given the planning involved, severity of the offence, high value of the goods and attempts to blame others.

However, given family circumstances, the defendant avoided being sent to prison immediately.

Wyatt, of Lund Avenue in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, was sentenced to two years in prison, but this was suspended for the next 18 months.

In addition to this, he must complete 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and undertake 100 hours of unpaid work in the community.